The invention relates generally to product dispensing systems, and more particularly to an unmanned system that houses and dispenses products in a controlled fashion.
Currently, xe2x80x9cproductsxe2x80x9d such as leaflets, food packets, sand bags, supplies and other materials that must be air dropped or air-delivered for military or civilian (e.g., disaster relief, emergency response, etc.) purposes are generated or manufactured, packaged, handled, transported to airfields, loaded into aircraft, flown to the area of interest and then dropped from the aircraft over the area of interest. Alternatively, the products are delivered to airfields for truck or other manual distribution. In either case, a substantial amount of product handling and transfer operations are required thereby making the process time consuming and expensive. Further, the use of multiple handling and/or transfer operation venues increases the potential for mistakes, damage, etc. Still further, the handling and transfer operations generally require the use of on-site personnel to carry out the various operations.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient product dispensing system that can be used to both deliver and dispense products.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a product dispensing system that can be used to deliver and dispense products in the air from an aircraft.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a product dispensing system that can be used to both deliver and dispense a variety of types of products.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an unmanned product dispensing system that can carry out its dispensing operation in accordance with a scheme that is pre-programmed in the system or is remotely-transmitted to the system.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious hereinafter in the specification and drawings.
In accordance with the present invention, an unmanned system is provided for the dispensing of products therefrom. A standardized shipping container has at least one product module mounted therein. Each product module is capable of providing products therefrom. A controller module is mounted in the shipping container and is coupled to the product module for controlling distribution of the products from the product module and for monitoring status of the product module. A communications module is also mounted in the shipping container and is coupled to the controller module for communicating with the product module (via the controller module) and for transmitting the status to a remote location. A dispenser is coupled to the product module for receiving the products so-distributed under the control of the controller module. The dispenser expels the products from the shipping container either automatically or on command.